Raised by Wiccan parents, Josiah thought Christians were “crazy” and made “no sense.” But what he found in prison challenged everything he believed about them – and their God.
Eighteen months ago, Prison Fellowship volunteer Jeanne Fougerousse met an incarcerated man named Josiah. Josiah was raised by Wiccan parents (“Wicca” is a contemporary witchcraft movement), who told him to keep his distance from “crazy” Christians because they “make no sense.”
So, for most of his life, he didn’t know any followers of Jesus – until he went to prison.
Josiah joined the Prison Fellowship Academy at Mule Creek Correctional Facility in northern California. That’s where he met Jeanne and other volunteers, along with the other men participating in the program, many of whom are Christians.
We bring them hope
The Academy is an intensive program designed to help people in prison unlearn negative thought patterns and replace them with healthy ones so they can thrive inside and outside of prison. The program guides prisoners to find a new path forward, but it also helps them find something even more important: hope.
“I know that I’m encouraging [the men], just by being there. They need hope. We bring them hope,” Jeanne says.
That “hope” is God, and the Academy leverages world-class materials, like Alpha – a course designed to introduce skeptics and new believers to the person of Jesus Christ – to help thousands of incarcerated men and women discover him for themselves.